Imbalancing act

This week there was news that representation of women in FTSE 350 boardrooms may be doing alright, but AIM boards mostly have the gender balance of a golf club in 1972.

But the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland points out that representation in key roles—chair, CEO and CFO—remains a concern.

Kayla Schembri, head of policy at the institute, says: “What is most striking is that only 8% of FTSE 350 CEOs are women. This is more than a statistic; it is a structural issue. When nominations committees restrict their search to existing FTSE CEOs or C-suite leaders, they limit the pipeline and reinforce the very imbalance they are trying to solve. It becomes a bottleneck.”

And that’s a worry. Though, in a letter to the Financial Times, Michelle Weston, chief revenue officer at The Executive Coaching Consultancy, reveals another concern: women may be appointed CEO when a company is already in crisis, on a “glass cliff”, rather than by planned succession, and therefore at a disadvantage.

“All assume the core problem is access to the role itself. But if frequently the role is offered under precarious conditions, then improving the pipeline merely delivers more women to the cliff edge, more efficiently.

“If boards truly want more women at the top, they must stop pretending crisis appointments are proof of progress.”

Coffee wake-up call

Tensions are percolating in advance of the Starbucks AGM in March. Shareholders have issued a letter, calling on colleagues to vote against the reappointment of board directors Jørgen Vig Knudstorp and Beth Ford for failing to properly oversee labour relations.

Shareholders are worried about escalating conflict with baristas and “historic levels of allegations about labor rights violations” undermining the company’s prospects.

Everyone’s going to need a double espresso come 25 March.

Activism in the UK

It looks like it’s fair to say that activist investors are, well, particularly active in the UK. Research from Diligent Market Intelligence reveals that the UK accounted for more than 50% of European companies targeted by activists, followed by Germany, Italy and Ireland.

The biggest issue driving activism is governance, but demand for M&A action has climbed 29% year on year to a five-year high.

Josh Black, editor-in-chief at Diligent Market Intelligence, said: “The resurgence of M&A was long-awaited and driven by more favourable market, regulatory and financing conditions, and marks a clear shift in activist priorities after several years where other forms dominated agendas.”